Salvage-indicating buoy



H. TOMIC 'SALVAGE INDI-CATING BUOY' Filed May 9, 1925 INVENTOR HTamwATTORNEY Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

"UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HELEN TOMIQ, OF SOUTH BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

SALVAGE-INDICATING BUOY.

Application Ifiled May 9, 1925. Serial No. 28,994.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HELEN TOMIG, a citizen of Yugoslavia, residing atSouth Bethlehem, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Indicating Buoys a specification.

The main obje Improvements in Salvageof which the following is ct ofthis invention is to provide a'buoy by means of which a sunken ship mayindicate 1 Another object dicating buoy ada ships so that its position.is to provide a salvage inpted to form equipment on when the latter, forany reason,

are sunk, the buoy automatically rises to the surface of the sea andindicates the position of the ship.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an indicating buoyhaving means thereon which lock said buoy to the deck of the Vesseluntil such time as the deck becomes submerged when the locking means areautomatically released by the rising level of the water and permits Theabove and floating of said buoy. other objects will become apparent inthe description below, in which characters of reference refer tolike-named parts in the drawing.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective v cation ofthe invention in iew, illustrating the appliwhich the buoys are shown onthe surface of the water, marking the pos1t1on of a sunken vessel.

Figure 2 is a anchor housing.

Flgure 3 IS a fr perspective view of the buoy aginentary sideelevational view of the indicating buoy.

Figure 4 is a thru the buoy,

with portions of sectional elevational view showing the same cooperatingthe buoy anchorage housingand illustrating the means for locking saidbuoy on the housing.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates an ordinarytype of vessel which lies The vessel, when buoy anchorage housingpositions. These reef 11 water. afloat, is provided with a at the foreand aft anchorage housings comsubmerged upon a prise a box-like framehaving parallel side walls 13 and end together to form walls 14 whichare joined a square hollow housing,

and has a bottom 15 which is securely mounted upon the deck of thevessel, one of each of these housings being provided at the bow andstern.

The distance between the parallel side walls 13 of the housing isspanned by a pair of straps l6 and 17 which are provided with bentdownwardly extending feet 18 at their ends, said feet being secured tothe interior surfaces of the walls 13 by screws, bolts, or other similarmeans. The intermediate portions of the bands 16 and 17 are bent inopposite directions to each other to form semi-circular hoops l9 and 20on which the buoy is supported when normally at rest. These hoops areengaged by cooperating means on the buoy to lock the latter in place onthe housing when the vessel equipped with the buoy is afloat.

The buoy consists of a hermetically sealed ball or sphere 21 formed fromsome relatively light rigid material of suitable strength to withstandrough handling. The chamber 22 contained therein is hermetically sealed,as stated, to create a buoyant body which readily floats and haspreferably about half its area exposed above the water level. At thebottom of the ball. a hollow cylinder 23 is formed which has ahemispherical roof 24 at its upper end and is open at the bottom. Withinthe bore of the cylinder an inverted cup-shaped plunger 25 is verticallyslidable. A stem 26 depends axially from the plunger and its lower endis movable in a chamber formed by an annular sleeve 27 which sphere andprojects downwardly therefrom and is open at its lower end so that watercan rise thereon and actuate the plunger 25. The sleeve 27 is of thesame length as the width of the straps and is adapted to snugly slideinto the circular space formed by the semi-circular portions of thestraps 16 and 17. On the lower internal periphery of the sleeve atdiametrically opposite positions to each other, pairs of ears 28 areformed in which hinge pins are mounted. the latter serving as supportpivots for angular bell cranks 29. The arms of the bell cranks 29 extenddownwardly and have teeth at their extreme ends which are adapted toengage the underside of the edge of the semi-circular portions 19 and 20of the straps 16 and 17, and in this manner, lock the buoy or spheresecurely seated upon said straps, as indicated in Figure 4. The oppositearms 30 of the bell cranks 29 are in horizontal alignment with eachother, extend toward each other, and are connected to the lower end ofthe stem 26 of the plunger 25 by flexible ele ments 31. A stud 32extends diametrically is integral with the reef, shoal,

across the lower end of the sleeve 27 and is adapted to have one end ofa cable-33 secured and firmly attached thereto. This cable is normallycoiled and housed in orderly fashion in the buoy housing and has itslower end firmly anchored to an eye bolt 34 which is mounted on thefloor 15 of the housing.

A buoy unit is preferably mounted on both the bow and stern of thevessel upon the deck, as illustrated in Figure 1. As a vessel iscruising upon the surface 12 and strikes: a

or the like, and has its keel stove in and immediately begins to' sink,the buoys become operable. as the deck of the vessel submerges below thesurface of the water. The vessel, in slowly submerging reaches the levelof the bottom of the spherical buoys 21 which are securely locked inplace upon the seat formed by the semi-circular portions 19' and 20? ofthe straps 16 and 17 so that the buoy is not tumbled about in roughweather, which would otherwise be the case. The. buoy isautomaticallyunlocked from its mooring by the action of the rising waterupon the inverted face of the cup-shaped plunger 25. As the vesselslowly sinks, the water rises within the sleeve 27 and as the stem ofthe plunger 25 is connected to the arms 30 of the bell cranks 29, thelatter are rotated so that the teeth on the vertical arms of the bellcranks are disengaged and rotate clear of their contacting engagementwith the portions 19' and 20 of the straps, and as the water continuesto rise, the buoy 21 is lifted clear of its mooring in the housing andfloating of its own accord and re maining on the surface 12 of the waterwhile the remainder of the vessel, including the housing of the buoys,sinks to the bottom. These buoys then act as salvage indicators by whichmeans trawlers or-other like vessels can locate the Wreck.

I claim 1. An indicating buoy unit comprising a housing having strapsmounted thereon, the

straps being formed into an annular seat, a spherical buoy operated onsaid seat, a cylinder extending upwardly into the buoy and open at itslower end, means on said buoy for releasably locking the latter in placeon the housing, and, additional means movable in said cylinder forreleasing said locking means when engaged by a rising level of water. a

V 2. An indicating buoy unit comprising a housing having straps mountedthereon, the straps being formed into an annular seat, a spherical buoyoperated on said seat, a cylinder-extending upwardly into the buoy andopen at its lower end, a sleeve extending downwardly from said sphereand aligned with said cylinder, toothed bell cranks pivoted in saidsleeve diametrically opposite each other and being adapted to normallyengage the housing seat, and means operable in said cylinder adapted torotate the bell crank and actuated by the rising levelof water insaidcylinder for'releasing the bell cranks from engagement with thehousing seat.

v 3. A11 indicating buoy unit comprising a housing having straps mountedthereon, the straps being formed into an annular seat, a

spherical buoy operated on said seat, a cyl-' inder extending upwardlyinto the buoy operated on said seat, a cylinder extending upwardly intothe buoy and open at its lower end, a sleeve extending downwardly fromsaid sphere and aligned with said cylinder, toothed bell crankspivotedin said sleeve diametrically opposite each other and beingadapted to normally engage the housing seat, an inverted cap-shapedplunger slidable in said cylinder, a stem on said plunger connected tosaid bell cranks, the plunger when lifted by the rising level of liquidbeing adapted to lift said stem and rotate therbell cranks out ofengagement with the housing seat to release the buoy for floating.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HELEN TOMIC.

